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3 Ronin books and a detective novella in 2015

3 Ronin books and a detective novella in 2015

This will be a banner year for me. Two Bears Books will publish three more Westerns—Home Means Nevada, Bathhouse Row and The Mountain Is Easy. The publication of Home Means Nevada finishes the core books in the W. W. Ronin Western series, introducing the characters and establishing the history and time period. The first five books are written as an easy to read “third person” narrative, placed in 1880s Lake Tahoe, Reno, Virginia City and Carson City, Nevada.

About book five:

When Genoa farmer Orrin Hickman decides to resurrect the Mormon militia group the Danites to settle some long-standing accounts, an old curse threatens fire and floods on the people of northern Nevada. Ex-priest and Pinkerton Detective, W. W. Ronin finds his heart broken and his hands full and guns blazing as a returning husband complicates his personal life and prison-breaking felons join the “rising tide” of Latter Day Saint hit men in the fifth of the W. W. Ronin adventures, Home Means Nevada.

Home Means Nevada defines place-based fiction, where real people and real places become the setting for hauntingly real human adventures. Home Means Nevada takes place in Carson City, Genoa and Gardnerville, Nevada, and tells the true story of what happens when religious dreams meet present-day realities among Nevada’s earliest settlers.

A full-length piece of historical fiction, Home Means Nevada should be available in April. Bathhouse Row re-launches the W. W. Ronin epic. Written in a more active style, “darker and deadlier than ever,” my beta-readers say you’ll love Bathhouse Row! I’ve set the “first person” tale of murder and intrigue amidst four well-known northern Nevada hot springs—Steamboat, Carson, Genoa (Wally’s) and Markleeville (Grover’s). The book is out-of-sequence, moving the adventures to 1889, has all new historical content and will be available late summer.

The Mountain Is Easy pretends to be a long lost W. W. Ronin journal, recently found under my bed, dating to 1901. Ronin, settled down at Lake Tahoe, having just turned fifty. Be prepared to find out what happened to some of the series’ regulars as Ronin considers retirement…

You can download the first six chapters of The Mountain Is Easy by simply signing-up for this site’s newsletter. I’ll send it to you FREE, as a PDF file.

You’ll be surprised to hear that I have a 21st century detective novella in the works, too. We’ll launch the Tommy Valentine series—built around Nancy and my real-life travel adventures, thinly disguised as Tommy and Babs Valentine—sometime this fall (the first of four!) If you love humor, want to get yourself a little bit of South Jersey and don’t mind the satisfying darkness of broken bones and bodies when they’re most deserved—you’ll love these much shorter, Philly mafia, private eye, gonzo-fiction style books. Happy reading, and thanks for being a subscriber!

Subscribe get six chapters from my unpublished book, The Mountain Is Easy, FREE!

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A thoughtful afterward is a good reminder of just how much research Townsley does to write his novels. I’m drawn into the fiction and learn from the historical about the areas in which I grew up, yet one does not need to be a Nevadan nor a Westerner to smile while reading Townsley’s deep character development. My fear is that Ronin will settle down (again, no spoilers!) because I’m not ready for his adventures to come to an end. The world needs this thoughtful good guy who realizes even bad guys have stories. - Yukon Joe, Cornelius, OR
I read a lot of women's fiction, generally for story and character development, and I took the story East Jesus, Nevada to be rich in both. Ronin is a likable character who learns a thing or two along the way. And what fun dialogue to boot! What surprised me the most about this book, however, is how immersed I was in the old west world the author created. He really paid attention to detail. I felt like I was right there with the characters, sharing in their adventures. Since I'm from Nevada originally, this story took on extra meaning for me... - April Aasheim, author of The Universe Is a Very Big Place and the Witches of Darkroot series
Gregg Townsley writes about things he understands. The history and geography of Nevada, fast guns and fast action. I highly recommend his books! - Jon "Trickshot" Wilson, shooting coach for the TV show Top Shot (2010) and World Fast Draw Association champion 2004, 2011 and 2012
All the while I was reading Lady of the Lake I heard the late Sam Peckinpah's distant ghost-voice imploring, "Goddammit, Lord, send me back down there for one last movie...Gregg Townsley writes violent scenes the way Peckinpah films them, bringing us so close to the action we see it break into detailed increments. It enables us as readers to sail virtually with ex-Episcopalian priest-cum-bounty hunter W.W. Ronin over the head of his horse onto a sandy path, breaking his/our fall with a trained tumble that starts with a hand, then rolls to a forearm and finally to a shoulder before we're on our feet dashing into a tree-line. Townsley brings off a visceral authenticity in this opening scene and subsequent descriptions of fights with fists, knives, clubs and guns with a perfect marriage of writing craft and the authority of knowing what he's talking about." - Mathew Paust, author of Executive Pink, Sacrifice and If the Woodsman Is Late
I love the historical setting and detail, the pace of the story, the character shadings, and even the almost hidden lessons in geography, theology and sociology. his is a first rate western by any and all standards. The hero shoots straight (and often), the side - kicks entertain and comes through when most needed, the warm-hearted gal remains disconcerting on the hero's mind, and there is a "made for the movies" action sequence that beats any horse chase you ever read or saw. - Jeff Barton, Iowa City, IA
Having spent a few years living in Lake Tahoe I found this book a joy. I knew there was quite a history of the area but never was exposed to much of it. I was transported back one hundred and fifty years to my old stopping grounds. What a treat. - Kirk Larson, Forest Grove, OR
Wow, Having been to the places in this book made it even more interesting. The story was well written and takes the reader on an adventure through times long past. This was a great follow up on the life and times of the subjects form East Jesus Nevada, the first book of the series. I will look forward to the next book. - Lee Kiger, Tigard, OR
"Most things said and done, I try to fix things, to make them right. And if there's a dollar or two to be made along the way, I try to pick it up." Townsley is really finding his stride…The prose is a fine balance between pulpy fun and elegant wordsmithing, at its best reminding me of later Spenser novels. The story and characters are the most vibrant so far. Though the overall story is true to the genre, he throws in surprises in how the twists and turns get handled…Definitely worth the money and time invested in this latter-day western. - Jason Brick, author of Mastering the Business of Writing, The 9 Habits of Highly Profitable Writing and Train Wreck: The Farcas Foxtrots
True Believer is a delicious cook pot of murder, intrigue, vice and virtue beautifully crafted by Townsley with a touch as light as a Paiute Indian scout's footfalls. - Shaun Mullen, former editor of the Philadelphia Daily News, author of The Bottom of the Fox and There's a House in the Land
I haven't read a western in years (maybe decades). The style of writing in the old westerns was too slow for my modern taste, and the plot too predictable. East Jesus, Nevada is a fast-moving, intriguing, old west story brought to life by Gregg's Townsley's modern style of writing. - Phil Stramel, Long Beach, CA
A great ride, if you'll pardon the irreverent reference! The characters are believable and the situations based on historical lore and fact. I'm looking forward to The Lady of the Lake and any future endeavors by Mr. Townsley. "Please. sir, may I have another?" - Casino Fossel, Boise, ID
A great book with believable characters. If you are tired of the cookie cutter westerns then this is the book for you. Characters that are real, situations that are believable and a main character that has all the flaws just like the rest of us.
- SJM, Vancouver, Canada
With a wonderful blend and mix of dialogue and fun...Well-written and wonderful characters top off the book, with WW Ronin definitely standing out as my favorite. Woot! - Holly Hunt, author of The Devil’s Wife, Blood Moon, Tryant of Tarsit, Scale and Leather
Gregg Edwards Townsley knows Nevada like no one else. His latest installment of the adventures of W. W. Ronin is his best work yet. Captivating and engaging from cover to cover...superb writing about one of America's greatest eras. - Tom Bleecker, Hollywood screenwriter, publisher, and author of The Bruce lee Story, Unsettled Matters, The Journey, The Jet and Jolanta.
Home Means Nevada is a Western told in the skillful manner of the old masters like Zane Grey and Louis L'Amour. Townsley is a master wordsmith and his work comes alive with action and suspense. - W. R. Benton, best-selling Western novelist, author of War Paint, Missouri in Flames, mountain Man Justice, and the Fall of America series.
The W. W. Ronin Western series brings a fresh perspective to historical fiction, blending adventure with colorful facts of Nevada and northern California during the 1880s. - Linda Pendleton, author of Deadly Flare-Up, The Catherine Winter Private Investigator series, A Walk Through Death, and with her late husband, adventure writer Don Pendleton, The Metaphysics of the Novel: the Inner Workings of a Novel and a Novelist
A Western novel with the twists, turns and pathos of fine noir detective fare. Home Means Nevada demonstrates Townsley's knowledge and love of Nevada, firearms, moral quandaries and the questions that drive all men to chase their dreams and demons to every corner of the world. His best work so far. - Jason Brick, author of Mastering the Business of Writing, The Nine Habits of highly Profitable Writing, Astoria: Your Guidebook for Oregon's Gateway to the Pacific, and the Farcas Foxtrot series
Tommy's a man of few words when he's working, but when he's telling us all about it...imagine Sam Spade or Mike Hammer on amphetamines--a fistful of amphetamines--and you've got the picture. "Jersey Tomato" is a ride down literary rapids in a jet-propelled kayak. I laughed all the way. "Hell," as Tommy V. would say, "I'm still laughing." - Matthew Paust, author of First Shot, Nature of the Bones, and When the Songbirds Went Silent in Cheerytown.
Gregg Townsley nails the murder-mystery genre with a strong and compelling action and humor-filled narrative. Townsley's writng is remarkably consistent, with lively dialogue and clever banter between private investigator Valentine and his sassy, saucy, but tough wife, Babs. Fast-paced and sharp - D. C. Jesse Burkhardt, author of Travelogue From an Unruly Youth and The Crowbar Hotel.
This short tale of murder and mayhem on holiday is my favorite work of an increasingly prolific talent...A must for fans of noir and of gonzo tales by the likes of Lansdale and Hiassen. - Jason Brick, "That Writer Guy," and the author of Mastering the Business of Writing, The Nine Habits of Highly Profitable Writing and the Farkas Foxtrot series.
You are a regular Andrew Lloyd Webber in the literary world. You just keep cranking out the hits. - Gail McMullen Marinelli, Howard County Public Schools